| NAME James Peter Majercak |
NICKNAME — |
MCSN 353047 |
|||||||
| HOME OF RECORD 5205 South Raymond Street, Chicago, IL |
NEXT OF KIN Mother, Mrs. Mary E. Majercak |
||||||||
| DATE OF BIRTH July 8, 1915 |
DATE OF ENLISTMENT January 15, 1942 |
DATE OF LOSS November 10, 1942 |
|||||||
| REGION Solomons |
CAMPAIGN / AREA Guadalcanal |
CASUALTY TYPE Killed in Action |
UNIT A/1/2nd Marines |
DUTY — |
|||||
| CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS At 0600 on 10 November 1942, the First Battalion, 2nd Marines began advancing west from the positions they held around Point Cruz. At the crest of a grassy ridge, Company A ran into a hornet’s nest of machine gun, rifle, and mortar fire that stopped them in their tracks. No reinforcements could be spared, and the company was forced back in what was euphemistically termed a “strategic withdrawal.” Private James Majercak of Company A was shot and killed during the abortive fight for the ridge. His body could not be recovered from the field, and he has not been accounted for to this day. |
|||||||||
| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK Private |
||||||||
| STATUS OF REMAINS “Presumably buried in the field at place of death.” |
MEMORIALS Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery Manila American Cemetery |
||||||||
Biography:
Coming soon. Contact the webmaster for information on this Marine.
The day was the hottest I can remember on the Canal. We formed a skirmish line on the ridge and lay there waiting for our artillery preparation and the word to push off…. In due time the word came to move out and we advanced into a heavily wooded valley. The descent into the gorge was uneventful as was most of the climb up the opposite slope. However, when we reached the crest of the hill and started to move into the tall grass… all hell broke loose…. [A] hail of machine gun and rifle fire cut into us…. The Japs then went to work with mortars, dropping round after round on us. I don’t think they wasted a single round, long or short.
A Company was taking a beating. Richard Gill, William Schreiner, James Majercak and Amos Gray lay dead…. My squad was decimated…. There was no help for it – we had to leave our dead…. We had our asses whipped and withdrew back to the line we kicked off from.
– William W. Rogal, A/1/2, in Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Beyond: A Mud Marine’s Memoir of the Pacific Island War.
Articles and Records:
Photo Gallery:
Coming soon.
